The Sunday Junkie: Nov. 29 edition

Despite being a holiday weekend with no major events (or, perhaps, because of it), we received a surprising amount of entries for this week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie, and they covered just about every hot topic imaginable.

But when it came to picking a winner, we went with Ralph Purificato, who champions for some restraint when it comes to criticizing MMA judging.

For his winning entry, Ralph wins a free one-year subscription to Fighters Only magazine, the world’s leading MMA and lifestyle magazine. He’ll also be invited onto MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss the topic with the show’s hosts.

Want to submit to next week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie? Scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions (and be sure to include your name and hometown). And check out all the entries below.

* * * * SOME FANS TOO QUICK TO CRITICIZE JUDGING

Lately there has been a lot of talk about reform in MMA judging. I, for one, agree and think the best solution right now is more educated judges and an emphasis on damage and trying to finish the fight. However, because of recent decisions in which there was clearly a lack of MMA knowledge, fans are now quick to cry “foul” every time they disagree with a decision. For instance, in Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin II, I personally felt Griffin clearly won the first and third rounds and that the second was close due to his standup and the sweep. The point of this entry being, though, while we know there are some enhancements that are certainly needed, let’s not cry foul every time we see something differently or our favorite fighter loses a decision – especially when it’s the fighter’s fault if it goes to the cards in the first place.

Ralph Purificato
New Haven, Conn.

ELVIS SINOSIC PROVES PROFESSIONALISM STILL MATTERS

The UFC is heading to Australia in early 2010, and there is not a more fitting athlete to compete there than Elvis Sinosic. The Australian hasn’t had great success within the octagon (1-6 UFC) but has been a professional the entire time. He has fought the likes of Jeremy Horn, Forrest Griffin, Evan Tanner, Tito Ortiz, Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Michael Bisping in the UFC. These were all fights in which Sinosic was a decided underdog. While he was only able to defeat Horn, he always brought full effort into the cage and never gave up. Never once did you hear Sinosic complain about his situation or turn down a fight. Not only did the UFC bring him back, but they gave him the rematch with Chris Haseman that he has begged for over the past 10 years. In a sport that is so predicated on wins and losses, it is refreshing to see a fighter rewarded for being professional over everything else.

Noah Hubbs
Charlotte, N.C.

NO MORE EXCUSES FOR JUNIE BROWNING

How many more chances are we going to give “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ bad boy Junie Browning? I will admit that I considered myself a fan when I heard him say, “The difference between me and the rest of these guys is that I can actually fight.” That type of bravado coupled with two decisive victories on the show kept me watching again and again. Soon, his antics were out of control, and I was watching for the train-wreck factor. Browning lost on the show but seemed to redeem himself on the finale with a “Fight of the Night” win. His next match was another loss, and then an alleged suicide attempt/rampage through a hospital got him kicked out of the UFC. Now, Browning won his fight on Saturday at MMA Big Show but degraded the female attendees afterward. Does this guy have any fans left?

Brian “fulch211″ Fulcher
Dublin, Ohio

VICTORY FOR OUTSPOKEN DAN HARDY COULD BENEFIT UFC

With Brock Lesner’s unfortunate illness, it was indeed a timely return for somone like Tito Ortiz, who proves it’s the fighter that sells the pay-per-views and not the implications of the actual fight. Outspoken/abrupt personalities are exactly what the sport needs; all the trash-talking helps hype the fight, and, of course, fans can’t wait to see the fighters walk the walk. (Hence, we buy the PPV.) For example, back at UFC 99, many would argue that because of all the pre-fight antics (the “fake Irishman” taunts and Photoshop malarky), Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy was the most anticipated fight on the card – despite being scheduled as the first fight of the night. Although UFC 99 was not a PPV in the U.S., when George St-Pierre and Hardy meet at UFC 111, I expect a lot of fans buying the PPV because they simply want to see Hardy overwhelmed and completely beat down. But if Hardy does what many people think isn’t possible and wins, the biggest winner could be the UFC. Hardy’s outspoken nature and stand-and-bang style will suit the “casual fan” a lot more than GSP’s talented yet frowned-upon ground and pound.

Richard Morris
Leicester, England

FRANK MIR’S THREATS GO TOO FAR

In recent posts around the Internet, Frank Mir has expressed his desire to “take off” Brock Lesnar’s arm, to hold on until he hears it break, and to possibly
end Lesnar’s career. (Granted this was before Lesnar’s illness.) I do understand having heated rivalries in a competitive nature, but if MMA wants to be
considered a legit sport, it can’t be looking to sanction fights in which there is a serious threat to one of its competitor’s well-being. We need to start
differentiating between healthy smack talk and mind games versus ill-natured threats. This type of publicity can only be negative for the growth of MMA
and should necessitate regulations and fines being administered.

“Bruno”
Bradenton, Fla.

JUMPING WEIGHT CLASSES SHOULDN’T DETERMINE A CHAMPION’S LEGACY

There seems to be a growing feeling in the MMA world that champions should be ready to move up or down weight classes in order to prove their dominance in the sport and challenge themselves. I don’t want to come off as saying that a fighter shouldn’t move up or down a class in order to generate a “superfight,” but I think it is time for fans who say that the top fighters are “ducking opponents” or “are not challenged in their weight class” to come face to face with reality. We need to recognize the fact that every fight is a challenge, every training camp is a challenge, and that every fighter who steps into the ring has overcome many challenges (mental, physical and likely emotional) to be there. So let’s make a conscious effort to appreciate all that these fighters go through day in and day out.

“Richard”
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

COULD EX-FIGHTERS SOLVE MMA’S JUDGING PROBLEMS?

There has been a lot of talk about decisions in recent fights. I think the best way to have the judging problems fixed is to have former fighters be the judges. Who else would know fighting better than an actual fighter? They would be able to give more informative thought into a decision instead of having a judge who has never stepped into a ring or octagon in their life. It seems to be very simple to me and the best solution. I understand every fighter has different styles of fighting, but they all understand ground fighting, the effectiveness of leg kicks, and takedown defense. Most judging now seems to bypass all of that and other areas of the fight game. Just let fighters decide who won a fight between fighters.

Rylos Taylor
Oakland , Calif.

THE SPORTS WORLD’S TOUGHEST ATHLETES? MMA FIGHTERS

Why is it an NFL player gets a knee to the head and is down for the count? But an MMA fighter can take repeated punches and knees to the face and still leave the ring under his own power? This shows the caliber of athletes who compete in MMA. They do not wear helmets. They do not have pads to protect their ribs or legs. And still they show up and put their bodies through 15 minutes of hell to put on a good show for the people. Let’s see Big Ben get in a ring for 15 minutes with Chuck Liddell, and he will see what a real injury feels like. If MMA fighters aren’t considered the best athletes in the world, then they should be.

Brian Brooks
Downers Grove, Ill.

IT’S OUR DUTY: VOTE FOR MMAJUNKIE.COM

If you’re reading this, it means you’re reading MMAjunkie.com on a week with no events, during a holiday, and probably while plenty of good NFL games are being played. In other words, you’re a hardcore MMA fan. And us hardcore MMA fans know there is no better place to get our MMA news than MMAjunkie.com. Other Web sites will say they’re the first to post news, or they cover the most news, or that they’re the best at highlighting everyone else’s news. Please. When it comes to quickly and accurately covering the relevant news, no one does it better than MMAjunkie.com. That’s why I encourage everyone to go to www.worldmmaawards.com and vote for MMAjunkie.com. John Morgan is a finalist for Best MMA Journalist while regular MMAjunkie.com is a finalist for Best MMA Outlet. Both deserve our votes. Let the MMAjunkie.com world be known!

Ryan Paesture
Albany, N.Y.

TIME FOR MMAJUNKIE.COM TO CALL UFC’S, M-1’S BLUFF

Right now a lot of people are writing the “Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar for free” deal off as a publicity stunt. I know I’m not alone when I say that I really want to see this fight happen. Let’s get UFC president Dana White, M-1 Global officials and their lawyers on MMAjunkie.com Radio and let them work out a deal on a live broadcast (with no call-ins to interrupt). If this doesn’t result in the signing of one of the most anticipated bouts we’ve had in a long time, it would at least expose which promotion is all talk.

“Josh A.”
Las Vegas, Nev.

MMAJUNKIE.COM SHOULD INCORPORATE LIVE SCORING

After another close and controversial judges decision this past week at UFC 106, the subject of judges scorecards has never been a hotter topic. I believe a great way to capitalize on the judging controversy is to create a live fan scoring system. Fans who are watching the fight can log on to MMAjunkie.com or text and vote how they scored the round after each one is complete. This is a great way for fans to feel more connected to the sport we love so much and is a savvy way to drive people to your Web site and create more ad revenue with sponsors. Fans already have the option of voting or texting which fighter they think will win before a fight. Imagine the amount of fans that would love to score the fights live as well.

John Cutrell
Virginia Beach, Va.

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HOW TO SUBMIT: Do you have an idea for next week’s edition of “The Sunday Junkie?” Send your submission of 150 words or fewer (no attachments please) to sundayjunkie @ mmajunkie.com with your full name or nickname, your hometown (city and state), a valid email address and a phone number (not to be published). Incomplete submissions will not be considered for publication. Only one submission per week is suggested, but we’ll consider multiple entries if they’re submitted separately. All submissions must be received by Sunday at 10 a.m. ET to be considered for that day’s installment of The Sunday Junkie. Each week MMAjunkie.com chooses a best submission, and the author is then invited onto the following day’s edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss the topic.